#BlogSyncRE - www.BlogSyncRE.org.uk

After many months of thinking and planning, I was prompted into action by recent events on Save RE. Tone, intention and meaning can be confused, or mistaken on Twitter or during Facebook exchanges. This is one of the reasons that blogging is a really useful exercise. It allows you to consider your ideas, look for evidence, write up carefully and explain yourself with out interruption. However, discussion can then flow about the topic you have picked, questions can be asked and responses written.

I used to enjoy Chris Waugh's education blogsync (see <here>) and it helped me develop my writing style and got my blog out to a wider audience. It helped me establish my blog and a readership. 

The question is, could the RE community have it's own blogsync? Is there enough writers to make it work? The activity on things such as #REChatUK, where topics are discussed in a frenzy, as well as Save RE and it's new sister group RE Teacher's Forum on Facebook suggested that there may be. 

There has also been some suggestions that the education world is too dominated by white/male/straight people. I want the BlogSyncRE to actively challenge that and give an opportunity to every voice in RE. It is not limited to RE teachers, and anyone who wants to write about RE is more than welcome to partake. If you know someone who can make the debate more inclusive, demonstrating the variety of religion and religious education in the UK, please let them know about the project. 

EVERYONE is invited to join in. If you don't have a blog already, set one up... Neil McKain has just joined us this week, read his first blog post <here>. Staffrm has also encouraged many others to join blogging recently with it's own story, really filled with narrative, find it <here>. 

Please publicisie this as widely as possible. It is deliberately not tied to any group in the RE world, this can mean editorial process or 'politics'. Just like the #REconsult blog I (successfully?) ran during the RE GCSE/A-Level consultation period (see <here>), there was 'no holds barred' and no topic too controversial. However, we hope all the RE world will get behind this and share posts widely.

I do not run or control #BlogSyncRE. I am just using my expertise, passion, desire and enthusiasm for some real RE debate to enable this to happen. I am more than happy for anyone to help me with the admin and I am more than happy to receive feedback, suggestions for improvement etc. 

In the meantime, check out and share the website: www.BlogSyncRE.org.uk

Plus vote for our first topic <here>

Edexcel GCSE Religion & Media

Image courtesy of The Guardian

Firstly, I think religion and the media is fascinating. I always do some really good work on Islamophobia with Y9 for example. However I also feel it is done quite badly on the Edexcel GCSE RS course. It is also an area where teachers are often looking for inspiration...

Background Reading

• Why are we watching Shrek? by Robert Orme - "RE teachers should not have to pretend that there are important religious insights to be gained from spending lessons watching Shrek, Finding Nemo and Bend it like Beckham."
• DVD RE by Dawn Cox - A more general overview of why we use DVDs but also highlights some of the problems.

At the end of the day, for the next two years, we still need to teach it.

This year I have left the media content to the end, in the hope that by doing a distinct 'Religion and the Media' unit, I can cover it a little better. The four areas to cover are:

• How two television and/or radio programmes and/or films about religion may affect a person’s attitude to belief in God.
• How an issue arising from matter of life and death has been presented in one form of the media, for example in a television or radio programme, or in a film, or in the national press.
• How an issue arising from matter of marriage and the family has been presented in one form of the media, for example in a television or radio programme, or in a film, or in the national press.
• How an issue arising from religion and community cohesion has been presented in one form of the media, for example in a television or radio programme, or in a film, or in the national press.

The debate of what media to use comes up frequently on Twitter and Save RE, so I thought it would be valuable to collect some data on what RE teachers are using...

If it is not possible to use the embedded form, please click here: http://tiny.cc/religionmedia - and share widely!

The important bit... see the results here: http://tiny.cc/viewreligionmedia (if you want to be added as an editor to help keep it tidy, please email me at TalkingDonkeyRE@gmail.com) 

Freedom in RE

Image courtesy of 2 Oceans Vibs

Last night on the Facebook group of RE teachers called 'Save RE' a row escalated after a NQTs request (on behalf of her head of department) for teaching resources on the Illuminati. People were accused of being mean and that members of the group had been 'attacked'. There were polarised views as to whether this was brilliant engagement and relevance to kids who are "always talking about it", or something that had no place whatsoever in RE.

It made me think. Do History and Geography have such dilemmas? 

Is there a place on the internet where Historians argue about what is history? Do they debate what they should be covering in their lessons? Or how to cover more unconventional topics? Do Geographers row about the content of their KS3 lessons? Do they fall out over what to types of geographical features should or could be included? 

Now RE is distinct and different to other humanities; although let's not try to define it's purpose or we'll have another quickly escalating argument. However I increasingly wonder to what extent. I believe that such rows erupt in RE for a number of reasons:

• Many schools follow their Locally Agreed Syllabus (LAS) which is a curriculum determined locally. However many do not follow it that closely and there is little monitoring in many places. Some teachers who should follow it do not, and 'do their own thing' to a large extent.
• Due to local determination when national (international even?) RE forums for discussion raise such issues, people do not know local context. Maybe the Illuminati is on the teacher's LAS? (I'm not sure it is?).
• RE suffers from its legal status... what is compulsory for all? What is an academic option? What are the schools responsibilities? RE's status can sometimes be it's downfall, especially when people do not know exactly what it is.
• The perception of the subject can still be poor for a multitude of reasons: time allocation, resources, lack of specialists, SLT view etc. This results in a drive to be relevant and engaging; too often I feel it is misleading. I again reference this:
  

Image courtesy of The Brilliant Club

• Teachers can often be in one person departments with little support, or challenge. It often vital you have a friendly colleague to raise his or her eyebrow as you make a suggestion of what or how to teach.
• Subject knowledge and specialism in RE can too often fall short. Understanding the complexities of "What is religion?" may be beyond some, especially those drafted in willingly or not from other subject areas.
• Time challenges. Often RE teachers suffer more than most from this. Some teacher 75% of the school (or more), they have fewer people to share planning with, or may not have the resources. Hence many a request on Save RE... Do they have time to create bespoke, individual schemes of work?
• RE teachers care. A lot. Since being excluded from the EBacc (hence the 'Save RE' name of the Facebook group), RE teachers want to passionately fight the good fight for RE. Sometimes this passion spills out into what some have called 'attacks' on Save RE.
• There is some bad and ugly RE out there (see <here> and <here> for previous blog posts). Many RE teachers feel that should be challenged, as for some of the above reasons, it may not be challenged within schools.

This returns us to some of the contemporary issues of RE:

• Specialist shortages
• Lack of training
• LASs or a national / core curriculum?

Would having a national or core curriculum for RE address #IlluminatiGate? Perhaps it would have eased it as people would have known the teachers reference point and understood better about how/why it would be included? Perhaps people could have simply pointed out that we have enough to et through with this curriculum that this kind of topic needs to be left to extra curricular forms (RE clubs etc)? 

Or would we just have a different set of dilemmas?

Also on the other hand, some people use the complete freedom to put together what certainly look like great RE syllabi... (see <here>)

And it's worth noting I work in a Catholic School so we have a comprehensive 'core curriculum' found in the Curriculum Directory (see <here>)

For the record, I am happy to admit I challenged the idea of teaching this topic, but I do not feel I was rude, personal or my posts can be construed as an 'attack'. I make no apologies for challenging things I do not think are right. I cannot in good conscience say 'great idea' when I do not think it is. Our time is precious as RE teachers, we also have the most fascinating subject in the world to teach. Sometimes we can do a little better, and I very much include myself in this.   

The Internet In Your Pocket

Image courtesy of The Huffington Post

For Y7 to Y11, phones must be switched off and locked in lockers. If they are seen, they are confiscated, if they are heard they are confiscated with an additional detention. Repeated offenders have their items confiscated for longer periods of time. Sixth Form can use their phones for research purposes, within the Sixth Form block. These are our schools' rules and they work reasonably well.

However, there is always very little noise at 3.30pm each day as students are leaving. The reason being that at this point, students can reclaim their phones, switch them on and check their social media networks. Students frequently bump into one another, or walls, as they are singularly focused on their phones. One student got clipped by a bus a few years ago as she had music on, checking her phone.

Twitter became polarized (for a change!) this weekend as a report was launched highlighting some research which indicated: "phone-free schools performed better in GCSE exams, especially those in bottom 60% of KS2 tests." (although only marginally when you read the actual stats behind headlines, see <here>) as well as David Didau's visit to Michaela School: "If a teacher sees or hears a phone at Michaela it’s confiscated until the following term. It doesn’t matter whether the phone accidentally slipped out of a pocket, and it doesn’t matter whether the parent is going into hospital and really really needs to ring their child. There are no excuses." (see <here>)

Advocates of BYOD and the use of mobile phones in the classroom chipped in with their dismay of this seemingly neo-traditional way of thinking. This is debate best left to others for the time being...

However it directly linked to the CP (Citizenship and PHSE) lesson I am planning for Y10 this week inspired by the idea of internet addiction. I think this video is a good start point about technology, with a nod to history and philosophy, but wit a clear demonstration of the potential dangers with some interesting stats:

Inner Drive recently published "6 Reasons to Put Your Phone Away" (see <here>) with some links to research about the dangers of using phones. The putting up of these posters on the form notice boards for my Y10 students will hopefully get them thinking...

I always think that maybe I need a Digital Sabbath as much as some of the students... the fact that I think I would struggle to do it is maybe the reason to try. It is easily to get addicted to the internet when it is in your pocket, and when you get non-stop notifications. Twitter, Facebook, emails... do we all need to switch off a little more?

Anyway, here is the lesson...

No More Open Letters... [3 Key Points for Morgan & Cameron]

Image courtesy of Tony Gentilcore

It's begun. Just a number of hours after the election and the open letters to David Cameron and Nicky Morgan have begun. 

It's not that I don't agree with the sentiment or the content. I'm just not sure about whether it is the right way to communicate genuine concerns. Do people ensure that, to the best of their ability, that the person intended has the opportunity to read them? Are copies sent to the DfE, 10 Downing Street?

I see 3 genuine concerns that the new Conservative government need to address in education:

1) Teacher Recruitment - We want the best, the brightest, the most well-trained and well equipped for the classroom (and for leadership roles). We want long term commitment from all and people not leaving en-mass.
2) Funding - Despite there being 'no money', it is vital to ask, "How can schools continue to get better with less money?". If we are determined to ensure the best education system in the world, there needs to be greater funding. Transparency on this is also required, say what you mean in real terms, and offer support to schools facing the biggest cuts.
3) OFSTED / Accountability Measures - It is now clear that OFSTED is not currently fit for purpose, but perhaps most importantly these have the biggest impact on workload in schools. Nearly every new initiative comes from something OFSTED may or may not want.

I believe 1) and 2) are directly linked to the school places crisis which needs to be tackled. I've heard figures of 25,000 new teachers needed during the next 5 years. Secondly, how can schools provide more places with no funding? Perhaps the free schools programme will fix some wholes, but LEAs/Councils need to be able to indicate where these are needed.

I believe 3) is connected to the research, new advice, pedagogy being provided to staff. I think it is connected to the possibility of the Royal College of Teaching, the EEF Toolkit, Research Ed etc.

Instead of writing Open Letters filled with anecdotal evidence that pulls on the heart strings, and potentially makes teachers sounds like the biggest victims in all this (ask nurses, soldiers, policemen...), get active. Write to your new MP and focus on the issues rather than just your feelings and emotions.

I'm just as worried as you, but we need to be proactive and positive about what we want to do, and what we want focussed on.

To contact your MP, use: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ 
When it reopens, use: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

Poor Old PowerPoint

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Like so many things on Twitter, the use of PowerPoint has become a little polarised of late. Is it the worst tool used in school or is the best? Much of the recent discussion has been about the former. I've heard "Death by PowerPoint" many times, and to some degree absolutely accept it as a problem. Does that mean we ban it though? 

An article by Bent Meier Sørensen from the university of Copenhagen was tweeted LOTS in the last few weeks, Let’s ban PowerPoint in lectures – it makes students more stupid and professors more boring (see <here>) which argued that universities should not be using in lectures at all. Ross McGill aka TeacherToolkit also suggested in order to test resilience we should abandon PowerPoint for a day (see <here>). Yet it is important to state, that I too have written blogs about 'No Tech Day' (see <here> )

PowerPoint began life as a presentation tool for the world of business. Since then it has been adopted by all. Schools, with the adoption of IWBs and projectors have particularly taken to it's easy to use format. Lessons can easily be put together with far less hassle than the previous tools of OHTs/OHPs and even the chalkboard. Why would they not use PowerPoint?

I think personally, the big problem with PowerPoint is that it is often used badly. The five things that I think make a BAD PowerPoint that has no place in the modern classroom:

1. Too Long - A lesson PowerPoint should have 6/7 slides maximum.
2. Too Much Text - If you have a lot of text, use a textbook or print it out. It gets too small and too hard to read.
3. Bad Colours - I am colourblind (green/yellow) but this is only a small part of the issue of garish colours too frequently seen on PPTs. Did you drop some acid before making it?
4. Image / Text / Layout - Think carefully about what needs to go where. Review it. Look at it in Slide view.
5. Unnecessary Animation - PowerPoint has many features, you don't need to use them all.

 However the 5 reasons that I still use PowerPoint very frequently in my lessons:

1. It saves time - It is a lot quicker and easier to find a PowerPoint in my ordered user area that dig out worksheets, OHTs. It saves me writing things on my white board repeatedly (which is in a very poor condition anyway). I can also get it up quickly when I arrive in the room. 
2. It saves on scarce resources - Photocopying is expensive if done regularly and we can always purchase all the resources we want. PowerPoint 
3. It allows me to devise my own tasks based on existing resources - I often don't like the tasks in textbooks, even if the content is good. I used that as my source material and then devise my own tasks which appear on the board.
4. It's quickly and easily adaptable - When I review lessons, it is very easy to change my tasks, information so that my lessons as the best they possibly can be. 
5. It can incorporate audio / visual - A image or a video can really help enrich a lesson and embedding or linking to these in a PowerPoint can help improve a lesson.  

I feel this 'ban PowerPoint' rhetoric is misleading. It can be a really useful tool for lesson planning and delivery. Bad PowerPoint is obviously detrimental to these very same things. Perhaps it is a wider pedagogical question... good teaching will not be boring nor make students more stupid, bad teaching may well do! 

Other presentation software is available: Apple's Keynote, Google's Slides, Prezzi 

They all have the same advantages and disadvantages... although special mention to Prezzi which does sometimes make me feel a little seasick!

"Teachers Who Don't Like Kids"

On Thursday, I had the privilege of attending the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge regional final for Havering. Sadly the student from my school did not get placed, despite doing very well. The standard from the schools was very high indeed. The 3rd placed student came from our 'brother school' (The all boys Catholic secondary to our all girls Catholic secondary). It was entertaining and funny:

Jack Petchey Speak Out page <here>

I do remember from my time at school feeling that some of the teachers did hate us, and hate kids in general! Maybe that is the case? 

I wrote blog a while ago about how kids may well need to feel liked to best learn (see <here>). It got the Andrew Old 'filing' treatment. I can accept that, I agree with Andrew on a lot of things - including where to go for a good group curry in London - but realise that we won't always agree on everything. 

I do always wonder why some students think a certain teacher likes them and why they think another doesn't... and I deal with a LOT of that as Head of Year.

Am I liked? I don't know, probably by some. Why? I have no idea. I try to be fair and reasonable. Does it matter? Possibly...

Good work Billy on his 3rd place. I bet his teachers will love watching this and working out if it is them being mentioned!